


Our Laughter is Blooming

by merryofsoul



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Non-Idol AU, Non-Linear Narrative, Vingettes, side pairings mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 17:31:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16142066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryofsoul/pseuds/merryofsoul
Summary: SeungcheolI love you ♡JeonghanHaha grossSeungcheolWe’re literally marriedJeonghanEven grosser♡♡♡-A series of moments from a life.





	Our Laughter is Blooming

**Author's Note:**

> Major thank you to helicases for introducing me to this group, helping me brainstorm, and reading this over to make sure it made some sort of sense. Also a major thank you to tullycat for betaing this even without much knowledge of the group. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
> 
> I tried two new things that I've wanted to experiment with for a while: established relationship and non-linear narrative! I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Title from "Our dawn is hotter than day" ♡

Seungcheol stands at the end of the driveway and waves as his friends drive away. After a long, hard day of moving, Jisoo and Jihoon are the last to leave. It’s up to Seungcheol and Jeonghan to unpack now, which Seungcheol wants to get a headstart on before they go to sleep tonight. He makes a face at the boring brown front door as he walks back up the drive, Jeonghan’s original complaints about it echoing in his head. That’s one of the first projects they’ll tackle after they’ve unpacked all the boxes.

Searching for his boyfriend, Seungcheol finds him in the last room he checks. Jeonghan is stretched out on the floor of the sunroom in a patch of sun like a cat, his head pillowed on his balled up hoodie.

He’s fast asleep. 

Seungcheol steps fully into the room and walks over to kneel next to Jeonghan. 

“Babe,” he says, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on Jeonghan’s shoulder. “Babe, wake up.”

“No,” Jeonghan mumbles. “Go away.”

“You can’t sleep here,” Seungcheol says around a chuckle. “You don’t even have a cushion.”

“I’m not sleeping,” Jeonghan protests. His eyes are still closed. “I’m just resting my eyes.”

Seungcheol grins. “You know they delivered the bed this morning right? Jihoon and I put it together.”

“I couldn’t find the sheets,” Jeonghan says. “And we’re not done.”

Seungcheol reaches out and strokes some of Jeonghan’s hair away from his face. It’s half out of its ponytail from the day’s activities. 

“We’re done,” Seungcheol decides. “The rest can wait.”

Jeonghan cracks open an eye. “Really?” 

“Yes,” Seungcheol says. “Why don’t you shower?”

“That sounds nice,” Jeonghan says with a sigh. His eyes slip shut again. 

“If you shower, there’s pie,” Seungcheol cajoles. Both of Jeonghan’s eyes finally shoot open. 

“You baked a pie?”

Seungcheol shakes his head. “Our new neighbors brought it over.” 

Junhui introduced himself down by their mailboxes a few hours after the moving truck first pulled up. He was pleasant in a distant, neighborly kind of way, but his demeanor brightened when Seungcheol pointed Jeonghan out among the group of people traipsing in and out of the house. Two hours later, Junhui appeared at the front door bearing a freshly baked pie and introducing his partner, Minghao.

“I want it,” Jeonghan says. 

“Get up then,” Seungcheol says, scooting back out of range of Jeonghan’s reaching hands and pushes himself to his feet. Jeonghan whines a little as Seungcheol leaves the room. Seungcheol would like nothing more than to curl up with Jeonghan, but he refuses to do that when they have a brand new bed waiting upstairs. He finds the box of bedding in the kitchen and carries it upstairs to the bedroom to start making the bed. 

Jeonghan shuffles in while he’s struggling with the fitted sheet but doesn’t stop to help. Instead he beelines for the ensuite bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. Seungcheol hears the hiss of the water starting up and the sound of Jeonghan humming. 

“Seungcheol,” Jeonghan whines from the bathroom. 

“Yes?” Seungcheol calls back, putting the pillows in their cases and fluffing them up. 

“Where’s all the stuff?”

“In the box on the counter.” There’s a long silence and Seungcheol takes his time smoothing out the comforter before going to lean in the bathroom doorway. Jeonghan has the shower door cracked and is staring at Seungcheol unhappily.

“You’re getting water on the floor,” Seungcheol points out.

Jeonghan pouts and holds out his hand. “Can you please bring it to me?”

Seungcheol laughs as he opens the box at his elbow and unloads all of the shower things he knows Jeonghan will need — his shampoo and conditioner, his face wash, a separate soap for his body. There’s a different body wash and a loofah too, but Seungcheol knows he only does that weekly, so he leaves those behind and carries the necessary items over to the shower. Jeonghan takes them carefully two by two and arranges them neatly on the shelf. He starts to step away when Jeonghan relieves him of the last item, but stops when Jeonghan’s fingers wrap around his wrist. 

“Remember what I said when we first looked at this house?”

“That the backyard was boring?”

“No,” Jeonghan says. There’s still water spraying out of the shower and soaking the floor. “But it is boring. We’re going to fix it.”

“That the front door was ugly?”

“No.”

“Oh!” Seungcheol pretends to come to a realization. “You mean when you said the shower is big enough for both of us.”

Jeonghan’s eyes flash and he tugs Seungcheol a little closer, and who is Seungcheol to say no to him. Especially when Jeonghan is standing there, naked and wet, looking at Seungcheol with those eyes.

He strips out of his clothes and is in the shower with Jeonghan within thirty seconds. He closes the door behind him, finally saving the floor from flooding, and lets Jeonghan move him so he’s under the spray. They spend a while soaping each other up and washing each other’s hair, but soon it’s Jeonghan pressing Seungcheol to the cool tile with purpose. It’s Jeonghan’s mouth on Seungcheol’s wet skin. It’s Seungcheol’s teeth sinking into Jeonghan’s shoulder and their hands tangled between them, wrapped around each other.

The water makes it easy in a lot of ways, but especially the clean-up. Seungcheol presses kisses to every inch of Jeonghan’s face, their chests heaving against each other. They rest against each other for a minute, but the second the water drops in temperature, Jeonghan slips out of Seungcheol’s grasp and slides out of the shower. Seungcheol grins as he hears feet slip against tile and an aborted yelp, followed by the sound of Jeonghan searching through the boxes for their towels. There’s one waiting for him when he finally shuts the water off and steps out, and he wraps it around his waist and attempts to clean up the water on the floor with their pile of dirty clothes. 

“What?” Seungcheol asks as he scrapes his hair back. Jeonghan is watching him in the mirror with interest. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m too tired for anything more.”

Jeonghan sighs, but then immediately follows it up with a yawn. Seungcheol laughs and pads into the bedroom to fetch their shaving kits. They brush their teeth in silence that’s only punctuated by Seungcheol’s humming and Jeonghan’s yawns.

They slip on boxers and crawl into their brand new bed, Jeonghan sighing happily as he sprawls out across Seungcheol’s lap. Seungcheol, a dry towel in hand, rhythmically scrubs Jeonghan’s hair until it’s damp instead of dripping, and then combs it until Jeonghan’s eyes start to fall shut. Seungcheol knows Jeonghan’s hair will just end up tangled since he’s clearly about to fall asleep with it wet, but he likes doing this for Jeonghan. The routine is familiar and calming for both of them. 

Jeonghan jerks in Seungcheol’s lap, and Seungcheol knows he was just on the verge of falling asleep. “The pie,” Jeonghan murmurs. 

“We’ll eat it tomorrow,” Seungcheol replies quietly. 

“Kay,” Jeonghan says, eyes falling shut again. Seungcheol puts the comb to the side, shuts off the bedside light, and scoots down until he’s horizontal. Even stretched out all the way his hands and feet don’t come close to touching anything but mattress and pillows. Jeonghan was right — the bigger bed is much better. 

Seungcheol’s last thought as he falls asleep is that he hopes Jeonghan isn’t too upset about being woken at sunrise, because they definitely forgot to hang the curtains. 

*

Seungcheol blinks in surprise, trying to clear the stars from his vision. 

“Oh shit.” Jeonghan’s voice. Jeonghan’s worried hands on his face, tilting Seungcheol’s head down so he can look in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“What just happened?” 

“You hit your fucking head,” Jeonghan says, propping himself up on his elbows underneath Seungcheol. He’s shirtless and his jeans are half unbuttoned. They’d been in the middle of some very important business when Jeonghan got a little too enthusiastic about relieving Seungcheol of his shirt. “Your bed is too small.”

“It’s bigger than the dorm beds were,” Seungcheol points out, propping himself up on one hand and rubbing the top of his head with a frown. 

“That’s true,” Jeonghan concedes, dropping flat onto his back again. “But when we— Seungcheol.” Jeonghan pulls Seungcheol’s shirt up and pushes the waistband of his jeans down at the same time. “Whose fucking underwear are you wearing?”

Seungcheol glances down and squints at the pattern. “Uh, Jihoon’s. I think.”

“ _Why?_ ” Jeonghan asks loudly. “You _think?_ ”

“I didn’t have any clean underwear this morning,” Seungcheol says with as much of a shrug as he’s able. “I grabbed these from the clean laundry. They could be Jisoo’s, I guess.”

Jeonghan lets out a shriek, and Seungcheol can’t help his laughter. It’s hilarious to see Jeonghan so worked up about this. 

“What’s wrong?” Seungcheol says, wiggling his hips around.

“How am I supposed to have sex with you after taking someone else’s underwear off of you?”

“You didn’t have a problem with it last week,” Seungcheol points out. Jeonghan goes dangerously still beneath him. “Remember? When you took them off with your tee—”

Jeonghan’s hand slaps over Seungcheol’s mouth. “Don’t you fucking dare finish that sentence.”

“I was just kidding,” Seungcheol mumbles into Jeonghan’s hand. Jeonghan lets out a relieved sigh. “They were actually yours.”

Seungcheol’s on his back in a second, Jeonghan’s mouth bruisingly hard against his, and that’s the end of the talking for the night. 

*

“What about this?” Jeonghan asks, and then when Seungcheol doesn’t respond immediately: “Cheol-ah. What about this?”

Seungcheol looks up from the strands of hair in his fingers and glances over Jeonghan’s shoulder. There’s a picture of a standing mixer pulled up on Jeonghan’s phone that looks identical to the last three Jeonghan has shown him. 

“It looks good,” Seungcheol says, which was his answer for every other option Jeonghan has offered. 

Jeonghan sighs. “That’s what you said about the last three.” 

“They’re all good?” Seungcheol hedges. He focuses back on the task at hand, taking his time as he gathers the last strands of Jeonghan’s hair toward him. He’s been practicing fishtail braids for weeks now, and he thinks he’s finally gotten the hang of it. Jeonghan twitches a little when Seungcheol’s fingers accidentally brush his exposed shoulder, and he reaches up without looking to drag his sweater back into place. 

“They’re different colors,” Jeonghan replies. 

“Mmm,” Seungcheol mumbles. He finishes the braid and secures it with a small rubber band. “Finished,” he says, and presses a kiss to the side of Jeonghan’s neck. Jeonghan sighs and leans back into Seungcheol’s chest. Jeonghan loves having his hair played with, which is good for Seungcheol because he loves playing with Jeonghan’s hair. 

“You’re not helpful,” Jeonghan says, his eyes slipping closed as Seungcheol presses a kiss to his cheek.

“Mingyu’s not going to care about the color, and he’s the one who will be using it,” Seungcheol says, not really answering Jeonghan’s question, but trying to make the decision easier for him. 

“Okay,” Jeonghan says. “But you know Soonyoung will want it to coordinate it with the rest of the kitchen.”

“Alright, then the yellow,” Seungcheol decides. 

Jeonghan thinks about it for a second before saying, “I think the blue one will go better.”

Seungcheol makes a face and pokes his fingers into Jeonghan’s ribs. “Why even ask me if you already made a choice?”

Jeonghan opens his eyes and grins up at Seungcheol. “I had to confirm that I chose right, and when you picked the wrong one, I was validated.”

“As always,” Seungcheol says.

“Exactly.” Jeonghan grins. “I’ve trained you well.”

“Shut up,” Seungcheol mutters, and then leans down to kiss Jeonghan quiet. 

*

Seungcheol sets Jeonghan’s drink down in front of him. It’s fruity and has an umbrella, and Jeonghan makes a pleased noise when he sees it. He takes a sip and lets out a little sigh. “Ah, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Seungcheol responds, distracted by the way Jeonghan’s licking the taste of the drink off his lips. 

“Didn’t Soonyoung say no dudes tonight?” Jeonghan asks, looking somewhere over Seungcheol’s shoulder. “Something about not wanting to waste anymore time after wasting months on that asshole?” 

“Yeah,” Seungcheol says. 

“So why does it look like he’s about to have sex on the dance floor?” Jeonghan asks mildly. “And with Mingyu, no less?”

“ _Mingyu?_ ” Seungcheol whips his head around to look for his coworkers-turned-friends. Soonyoung’s in the middle of the dance floor, as usual, dancing with Mingyu, _not_ as usual. Seungcheol didn’t even know Mingyu would be out tonight. He blinks, trying to wrap his head around his two friends grinding it out on the dance floor. He didn’t realize they thought of each other in that way at all. 

Sooyoung has his hand wrapped around the back of Mingyu’s neck, who smirks down at Soonyoung as they dance close together. Seungcheol blinks in surprise when Mingyu flips Soonyoung around in one quick motion, hands on Soonyoung’s hips as he whispers in his ear. Judging by the shocked look on Soonyoung’s face, he wasn’t expecting the move either. Seungcheol looks away, feeling as if he’s intruding.

Jeonghan looks amused, but apparently decides not to comment further. Instead, he crooks a finger at Seungcheol, drawing him onto the dance floor. They sway close together as they finish their drinks, and when they discard their empties and have their hands free, they hold onto each other. 

It’s the kind of club and music that are downright dirty — per Soonyoung’s request — and Jeonghan seems to let the mood infect him as they dance. Seungcheol is happy to be along for the ride, seeing how shiny Jeonghan’s lips become the more he bites them, and feeling the strength of Jeonghan’s body against his. The lights turn Jeonghan’s skin purple. He looks ethereal. 

There’s a hazy second where Seungcheol almost forgets they’re in public, but then Soonyoung is tapping him on the shoulder. Soonyoung looks dazed, and more than a little flushed, and he keeps throwing glances back over his shoulder. Seungcheol can see Mingyu, grabbing Soonyoung’s coat for him and leaning against their table, watching Soonyoung with a soft look in his eyes that’s at odds with the way the two of them had acted on the dance floor. 

“I’m leaving now,” Soonyoung announces. “With Mingyu.”

“What happened to no dudes?” Jeonghan asks gleefully. Soonyoung blinks, and then unexpectedly, a soft smile breaks over his face. It’s almost disbelieving. 

“He promised to make me pancakes in the morning?” Soonyoung says. “Who does that? Like we haven’t even had sex yet and he knows he wants to make me breakfast?”

Jeonghan chuckles. “Are you sure he’s not just saying that to get in your pants?”

“I think he actually means it,” Soonyoung says. “We’ve known each other a long time and...I believe him. Mingyu doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean.” He looks at Seungcheol, who still hasn’t said anything, and says a little nervously, “Hyung?”

Jeonghan elbows Seungcheol in the ribs. “He’s just trying to wrap his head around the fact that his friends are about to touch each other’s dicks.”

“I’m not thinking about their dicks!” Seungcheol yells, trying to shake away the image that just jumped to the forefront of his brain. “I’m happy for you! I just don’t wanna hear about it!”

“This time I’ll refrain,” Soonyoung says. Seungcheol closes his eyes in relief. He’s heard about more than a few of Soonyoung’s past encounters, but he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to handle it if the stories start featuring Mingyu. “I’ll see you guys later?”

Seungcheol and Jeonghan nod and shoo him away, and he goes without another look back. Mingyu reaches for Soonyoung’s hand when he gets back to him, and even from this distance Seungcheol can tell Soonyoung is giggling and blushing by the set of his shoulders. 

“They grow up so fast,” Jeonghan says with a sigh. Seungcheol shoots him an amused look. 

“He’s only a year younger than us,” Seungcheol says with a chuckle. “Plus, he was my dongsaeng first. You have no claim over him.”

“We share dongsaengs now,” Jeonghan replies seriously. “They’re all our children.”

Seungcheol turns his face away to hide how his smile grows at the thought of having children with Jeonghan, even if he only meant it as a joke. All innocent thoughts fly out of his head when the song changes again and Jeonghan leads him deeper into the crowd on the dance floor. Soon the only thing Seungcheol can focus on is the sound of Jeonghan’s voice singing along in his ear and the movements of their bodies together. 

*

“What about these?” Jeonghan spins around from the mirror and shows off yet another pair of sunglasses. Seungcheol makes a face and shakes his head. Jeonghan swaps them for another selection and Seungcheol nods. 

“What else did we forget?” Seungcheol asks. 

“Sunblock,” Jeonghan says. Seungcheol grabs a bottle, wincing a little at the price, but it can’t be helped — anywhere else will be just as expensive. They pile their purchases by the register and Jeonghan fiddles with some of the candy hanging below it. Seungcheol picks up a pack and adds it to their stash. 

“We’re on vacation,” Seungcheol says with a smile when Jeonghan looks at him. Jeonghan returns the smile and tears into the candy as they leave the little convenience store and head for their boarding gate. Seungcheol finds a good spot where Jeonghan can charge his phone and he passes Jeonghan his neck pillow without needing to be asked, watching as Jeonghan immediately gets comfortable. 

“Do you want coffee?” Seungcheol asks, even though he’s sure Jeonghan is about to fall asleep until their boarding time. 

“Duh,” Jeonghan says, his eyes already closed. 

“Not even a please,” Seungcheol grumbles. “The romance is dead.”

“I used it all up at the wedding,” Jeonghan replies. It’s true — Jeonghan had leaked tears all through the vows and their first dance. Seungcheol wasn’t any better.

It’s so much easier to get coffee with having to drag any bags with him, and he’s there and back next to Jeonghan within fifteen minutes. He sits in the seat next to his husband — his _husband_ — and settles down for the wait. 

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” Seungcheol says. 

“I would hope so,” Jeonghan says. “You can’t really get away from me now.”

“Well, _obviously_ I mean that way,” Seungcheol snarks back, jostling Jeonghan’s shoulder with his own. Jeonghan grumbles at the disturbance. “But I meant I hate traveling alone.”

“Hmm,” Jeonghan says.

“And I don’t really like taking trips without you,” Seungcheol confides, though it’s not a secret at all. “I miss you too much.”

“Ugh,” Jeonghan says. “Don’t make me fucking cry again.”

“I love youuu,” Seungcheol sing-songs into Jeonghan’s ear. 

“I miss you more,” Jeonghan grumbles. “It’s pathetic.”

Seungcheol hides his happy smile in Jeonghan’s shoulder. 

*

Seungcheol knows he asked Jeonghan to make sure that he got up on time, but he didn’t think Jeonghan would go about it so _gleefully._

He should’ve known better.

Jeonghan sings some obnoxious mashup of some Top 40 hits as he dances around Seungcheol’s room. He’s thrown the lights on and only seems to be getting louder the longer Seungcheol ignores him. Seungcheol throws an arm in the air to indicate that yes, he hears Jeonghan, but that doesn’t do it. 

Jeonghan approaches and grabs Seungcheol’s blankets, exposing him to the unforgiving chill of the morning. Seungcheol lets out an incoherent groan and tries to grab them before they go too far.

“Up, up, up!” Jeonghan chants, using some surprising strength to rip the blankets away completely. Defeated and cold, Seungcheol sits up fully and raises both arms in the air. 

“I’m up!”

“Yah, good,” Jeonghan says. He takes hold of Seungcheol’s hand and drags him to the edge of the bed until he finally stands. Seungcheol sways there for a second, considering falling asleep again. Jeonghan seems to see Seungcheol weighing the possibility and sticks his ice cold hands underneath Seungcheol’s shirt. Seungcheol’s entire body jerks at the shock, and he’s finally fully awake. 

“What did I do to deserve this?” Seungcheol groans, grabbing Jeonghan’s wrists to keep him from moving his hands around. 

“You asked for this,” Jeonghan reminds him. “What? Did you expect a wake up blowjob?”

Seungcheol hadn’t, but he’s not going to pretend the suggestion doesn’t intrigue him. 

“Are those on the table?”

Jeonghan wrinkles his nose. “Not until you’ve brushed your teeth.”

Seungcheol runs to the bathroom to brush his teeth and rushes to rejoin Jeonghan in his bedroom. He bumps into a sleepy looking Jihoon in the hallway.

“I think I was having a nightmare because I could’ve sworn I heard Jeonghan?” 

“I asked him to wake me up,” Seungcheol says. “I have to get out of here early, and I wanted to see him one last time before I left.”

Jihoon frowns in sleepy confusion. “Did he sleep over?”

“No, he worked late,” Seungcheol says. “But I gave him a key so he let himself in.”

“Oh?” That wakes Jihoon up. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Seungcheol mutters, though it feels like a big deal. 

“Okay,” Jihoon replies, but it sounds like he’s saying a lot more. 

“Are you coming or what?” Jeonghan asks from Seungcheol’s doorway. 

Seungcheol doesn’t need to be asked twice, and leaves Jihoon to his judgment in the hallway. Jeonghan’s stripped out of his hoodie, leaving him in a big, white t-shirt that Seungcheol thinks is his. His hair is slightly messy, and Seungcheol has plans to mess it up even more. 

Jeonghan is uncharacteristically quiet, even as Seungcheol swallows him down in the way he knows Jeonghan likes. He’s still quiet when he slides down the bed to return the favor, and it’s not until they’re laying side by side again that Seungcheol asks, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Jeonghan responds. “I’m fine.” He rolls away and gathers his clothes to start getting dressed again, and Seungcheol looks at the time and realizes he needs to get moving. 

Jeonghan prods him into the bathroom, and as Seungcheol showers and gets the last of his things together, Jeonghan cooks him breakfast. Seungcheol joins Jeonghan in the kitchen while he’s staring at the coffee maker and presses up behind him. His hands find Jeonghan’s skin again under his hoodie and t-shirt, and he tucks his nose behind Jeonghan’s ear and breathes deeply. He doesn’t want to push Jeonghan for an answer, because he knows from experience that that will only make Jeonghan clam up more, but he doesn’t have to wait long. 

Jeonghan sighs. “I’m going to fucking miss you.”

Seungcheol wants to laugh, because it’s only going to be a few weeks, not even the entire winter break that he’s gone, but he realizes he doesn’t want to laugh about it. He strokes Jeonghan sides and swallows around the sudden lump in his throat. 

“I’m gonna miss you, too.”

Jeonghan makes a sad noise and turns to bury his face in Seungcheol’s chest. 

“Would you want to come down, maybe?” Seungcheol asks. It wouldn’t be the first time Jeonghan has met his family in the year they’ve been dating, but it feels like a bigger step to ask Jeonghan to come visit for a few days. It’s part of the reason he’d hesitated to do it before now, because he thought Jeonghan would think it was too much, or too serious. But Jeonghan has a key to his apartment and Seungcheol knows he’s in love with him — even if he hasn’t said it yet — so maybe it is the right time. 

“Really?” Jeonghan looks up at Seungcheol, and then without waiting for Seungcheol to ask again says, “Yes.”

Seungcheol smiles and hugs Jeonghan tightly. 

*

Seungcheol bumps shoulders with Wonwoo as their group walks to the bar. They’re at the back of the pack, listening to their friends chatting ahead of them. Seokmin is singing very loudly which would be bad enough on its own, but then Seungkwan joins in and it’s downhill from there. Once again, Seungcheol’s eardrums curse for him for ever introducing the two to each other. 

“You have that look on your face,” Wonwoo murmurs, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth. 

“What look?”

“The ‘I miss Jeonghan’ look.”

Seungcheol pouts. 

“Where is Jeonghan again?” Seokmin asks, dropping back to walk next to them. Wonwoo reaches out and takes his husband’s hand, the lucky bastard. 

“He has to work late,” Seungkwan answers for Seungcheol. “Hence — the pouting.”

“I’m not pouting,” Seungcheol responds quickly, schooling his face back to normal. His friends all laugh, but whatever. Seungcheol is allowed to miss Jeonghan. 

They crowd into the bar, one they’ve been talking about trying for weeks at Seungkwan’s insistence, and get busy ordering their drinks. The bartender does a double take when he sees Seungcheol, and then continues to look over at him. Seungcheol wonders if they’ve met before, because he looks like he knows Seungcheol.

“Are you Seungcheol?” The bartender asks as he hands over Seungcheol’s beer. Seungcheol nods, confused because he hasn’t handed over his card yet. “There was a guy in here earlier. He gave me a bunch of money and said that when the hot, buff dude with the blue plaid shirt came in, I was supposed to use it for your drinks. So...you don’t owe anything all night.”

“What?” Seungcheol says with a laugh. He looks down at himself and sure enough, he’d chosen a blue plaid shirt for their night out. He usually does, because he rolls up the sleeves and Jeonghan touches his forearms a lot. “What did this guy look like?”

“Uh, ponytail?” The bartender shrugs. “He was really pretty.”

Seungcheol smiles, his heart feeling full in his chest. “That was my husband.”

“Oh, word?” The bartender grins. “That’s awesome.”

“It is,” Seungcheol says with a smile. Seungkwan chooses that moment to swoop in. 

“You haven’t even touched that drink yet and you’re already spilling your woes to poor Hansol here?” 

“Hey.” Hansol says to Seungkwan with a grin. 

“Hi,” Seungkwan replies with a flirtatious smile. Seungcheol, realizing the real reason Seungkwan insisted on this bar, takes that as his cue to leave. He texts Jeonghan on the way back to the table. 

**Seungcheol**  
_I love you ♡_

**Jeonghan**  
_Haha gross_

**Seungcheol**  
_We’re literally married_

**Jeonghan**  
_Even grosser_  
_♡♡♡_

Later that night, after a lot of beer and some ill-advised shots, Seungcheol crawls into bed next to a sleeping Jeonghan. He presses as close to him as he can get, slipping his hands under Jeonghan’s shirt to get at sleep-warm skin and burying his face in Jeonghan’s neck. Jeonghan stirs as Seungcheol gets comfortable, but moves until he’s situated with his head on Seungcheol’s chest. He lets out a heavy sigh and Seungcheol can tell he’s halfway back to sleep, but he has this happiness bubbling up inside his chest that he needs to release. 

“I really love you,” Seungcheol whispers, threading his fingers through Jeonghan’s hair. “I’m so happy to be married to you.”

“Gah,” Jeonghan grumbles into Seungcheol’s chest. He levers himself up until his chin rests on his arms crossed over Seungcheol’s chest. “Love you too.”

It’s soft and sweet and fitting of the late hour, and Seungcheol falls asleep with a smile on his face. 

*

“This is fucking torture,” Jeonghan mutters. Seungcheol looks over at him with a grin. Hangovers are never a good look for Jeonghan, but especially now that it’s on day two. Jeonghan makes quite the picture right now — leaning back in the passenger seat, white knuckling his iced coffee, sunglasses on. “Who the fuck moves the same week they get married?”

“Your friends,” Seungcheol answers easily, anticipating a lot of this today — and they’ve only just pulled up to start the day. 

“Fuck you,” Jeonghan replies. “Wonwoo is your friend too.”

“Your friend first,” Seungcheol adds. He’s playing with fire but he wants to see how many times he can get Jeonghan to say the word ‘fuck’ before they get out of the car. 

“You stole him,” Jeonghan sighs. “He likes you better.”

“Well, Jihoon likes you better, so.”

“When we get married, we’re going on our honeymoon immediately,” Jeonghan says. Seungcheol’s heart leaps in his chest. “Two weeks, minimum. And I want to go to Europe.”

“Done,” Seungcheol manages to choke out, and then: “When we get married?”

“We’re also moving in way before we get married,” Jeonghan continues as if Seungcheol hasn’t spoken. “We can save money for the wedding and none of this bullshit will happen two fucking days after the ceremony.” He sighs and takes a long sip of his coffee. “I mean, we’ll have to move again when we buy a house, but that won’t be for a while.”

Seungcheol sits back in his seat and thinks about this. Last time he checked, he and Jeonghan were still living separately with their respective roommates. He’s thought a lot about asking Jeonghan if he wants to find a place together, and he’s definitely thought about marrying Jeonghan. He’s never been in love like this before, and he knows Jeonghan is serious about him, but he didn’t realize Jeonghan had also put this much thought into their future together. 

“Am I freaking you out?” Jeonghan asks. “I can dial it back.”

“I’m not freaked out,” Seungcheol responds. “I just didn’t know you’d thought about this so much. You want to move in together? You want to get married?” Seungcheol smiles and turns to Jeonghan fully. “You want to marry me.”

“Of course I want to marry you,” Jeonghan says. He finally flips his sunglasses up and looks at Seungcheol. There are bags under his eyes and he still looks like one wrong move will make him puke, but Seungcheol thinks he’s never looked more beautiful. “I was lucky enough to find you. I’m not going to be stupid enough to let you go. You’re stuck with me now.”

“No place I’d rather be,” Seungcheol replies honestly. 

Jeonghan returns the smile, happiness brightening his face. 

“And?”

“And I want to marry you too,” Seungcheol says, reaching across the gearshift and taking Jeonghan’s hand. “And I want to move in with you. And get a dog.”

“Can we have a garden?”

Seungcheol nods, knowing that Jeonghan will probably kill everything. 

“And I’ll hang blackout curtains in the bedroom,” Seungcheol promises.

“Oh my god,” Jeonghan says. “Are you trying to be really sexy right now? Because it’s working.”

“I’m the lucky one, you know,” Seungcheol says. 

“Agree to disagree,” Jeonghan says, leaning in. 

“We’re both lucky,” Seungcheol says, meeting Jeonghan halfway. It’s not ideal — car makeouts are never as good of an idea as they sound — but Jeonghan sighs happily into his mouth, so Seungcheol sucks up the weird angle and the twinge he feels in his back and kisses the hell out of his boyfriend. 

There’s a sharp rap on the window just as Seungcheol’s gotten his fingers threaded through the base of Jeonghan’s ponytail, and he stares over Jeonghan’s shoulder, unimpressed at the interruption. Jeonghan’s rubbing his temples too, as if the loud noise made his headache worse. 

“Who is it?” Jeonghan asks. “I’ll kill them.”

“It’s your baby,” Seungcheol responds. “He brought breakfast sandwiches.”

Jeonghan’s scowl turns to a smile so quickly Seungcheol almost gets whiplash. Jeonghan abandons Seungcheol in the car without another word and throws his arms around a waiting Chan. Seungcheol grins and follows his boyfriend’s lead, catching the bag of breakfast sandwiches just as they make a leap for the pavement.

*

“Hey.”

Seungcheol looks up from his computer to see Seungkwan standing in the doorway of his office. It’s not lunchtime or the end of the day, so Seungkwan should still be in his office on the other side of the building. He and Seungkwan don’t even work for the same company, they just met in the elevator one day and that was it. 

“What’s up?” Seungcheol asks, typing out a few more lines of his email. If Seungkwan wants to take a mid-morning break to go get coffee or something, he definitely needs to get this sent first. Seungkwan comes into the office all the way and takes a seat on the other side of the desk. Seungcheol hits send and looks to Seungkwan, who is now fiddling with any and all office supplies within his reach.

“Did you want to go get coffee?” Seungcheol ask, watching as Seungkwan almost spills his entire box of paperclips on the floor. 

“What?” Seungkwan looks up and shakes his head. “No. I’m okay. Did you? I’ll go with you.” 

Figuring a walk and some fresh air will get Seungkwan talking, Seungcheol leads the way to their favorite cafe. Seungkwan changes his mind about the coffee once they get there, but besides speaking to the barista to order, he’s uncharacteristically quiet until they’re on the way back to office. He slows when the building comes back into view and finally breaks his silence. 

“How did you meet Jeonghan?” 

Seungcheol smiles. “He was the roommate of one of my classmates.”

“And you asked him out right away?” 

“Oh, no,” Seungcheol says with laugh. “It was a whole thing.” 

Seungkwan looks at him expectantly, but Seungcheol doesn’t even know where to start. 

“Seungkwan, just ask me what you want to ask me.” 

Seungkwan sighs loudly and mumbles something so quietly that Seungcheol has to ask him to repeat himself. Seungkwan sits down on a nearby bench with a huff.

“I _said_ , I’m trying to figure out how to ask Hansol out, but he doesn’t seem to get it,” Seungkwan says, exasperation practically leaking out of his pores. “He keeps calling me ‘dude’ and ‘bro.’” 

“Aww,” Seungcheol coos. “And you want him to call you ‘sweetie’ and ‘darling?’” 

Seungkwan looks like he wants to toss his coffee in Seungcheol’s face. 

“I mean, a ‘babe’ would be nice? Or like, any indication that he realizes I want to date him, and not just be his _‘dudebro’_ friend.” 

Seungcheol tries to hide his smirk, but judging by the murderous look on Seungkwan’s face, he doesn’t do a very good job of it. 

“So you want...advice on how to ask him out?” Seungcheol laughs and joins Seungkwan on the bench. “God. I am the last person to ask. You don’t want advice from me.” 

“But I do,” Seungkwan insists. “You and Jeonghan...you’re solid. I want that.” 

It falls silents between them, the only noise the sound of their breathing and the footsteps of the passing pedestrians.

“That makes me really happy that you see us like that,” Seungcheol says honestly. “And I’ll tell you the story—” He breaks to chuckle a little. “But what I’ll also tell you is that you probably just need to sit him down and tell him you want to date him. Romantic styles.”

“I hate that I know that reference,” Seungkwan mutters. “But yeah. You’re right.” 

“You know? I thought it was great when Jeonghan said that to me,” Seungcheol says, leaning back on the bench with a grin. “But it’s great hearing it from other people too.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

*

Seungcheol shoves his hands deep in his pockets, trying not to frown at the ground but not really succeeding as his boots crunch on the day old snow. A new flurry starts up above, the very beginning of the deluge they’re supposed to get tonight. Jeonghan crunches silently beside him for a few minutes before clearing his throat gently.

“Are you okay?” 

Seungcheol laughs humorlessly. “Am _I_ okay? How can you ask if I’m okay?”

“You’ve been really quiet since we left,” Jeonghan mutters. 

“Because I feel like shit!” Seungcheol doesn’t mean for it to leave his body as high-pitched as it does, but he can’t help it. 

“It’s okay,” Jeonghan says. “I’m not mad.” 

“You should be,” Seungcheol mutters. “I gave you a concussion.”

Seungcheol feels sick to his stomach. He can still hear the pained groan Jeonghan let out when his head hit the ice, the result of Seungcheol tripping over his skates and sending them both tumbling.

Date one had been safe: coffee on campus and walking home hand in hand, Seungcheol asking Jeonghan if it was okay if he kissed him as they huddled outside the door to Jeonghan’s dorm. 

Date two was also safe: Jeonghan bringing Seungcheol to his favorite restaurant in the city and another walk home, butterflies in Seungcheol’s stomach the whole time. 

Date three was when Seungcheol decided to make it a little more interesting. Their school had been advertising skating under the stars as the semester died down, and Seungcheol thought that was a perfect romantic date. He’d forgotten the fact that it’d been years since he last skated, and he had to cling to Jeonghan for most of the night. That was fine until Jeonghan tried to kiss him and Seungcheol moved to lean into it without paying attention to what his feet were doing. They’d gone down to the ice in a heap, Jeonghan taking the brunt of the fall.

“It’s only a mild concussion,” Jeonghan says easily. “I’m really fine.”

Jeonghan didn’t want to go to the hospital or anything, but Seungcheol insisted that he at least get checked out at a walk-in clinic. Sitting alone in the waiting room after Jeonghan was brought back was enough alone time for Seungcheol to spiral into a guilt-ridden mess. He hasn’t even been able to look at Jeonghan since he finally came out of the exam room.

“Can we stop for a second?” Jeonghan asks, reaching out to place a hand on Seungcheol’s arm and draw him to a stop.

“Are you dizzy? Do you need to sit down?” Seungcheol asks, finally looking Jeonghan in the eye and stepping closer to him. Jeonghan doesn’t look like he’s in pain, but he is staring at Seungcheol with a weird look on his face. 

“I’m fine,” Jeonghan says. “I keep telling you I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Seungcheol says uncertainly. 

“Can you please cheer up?” Jeonghan asks with a pout. “I’m trying to ask you something and you look so miserable right now. It’s throwing off the whole vibe.”

Seungcheol tries to wipe the melancholic look off his face. This is probably the last time Jeonghan will ever went to see him, so Seungcheol should make the most of it. The snowflakes have stopped melting when they land on Jeonghan’s hair, building up into a thin dusting instead. Seungcheol wants to brush it away but doesn’t think he’s allowed. 

“Can we get hotteok?” Jeonghan asks. “Also, is it alright that I’ve been telling everyone you’re my boyfriend?”

Seungcheol is already answering the first question when the second takes him off guard. “Yes — wait. You’ve been telling people I’m your boyfriend?”

Jeonghan nods. 

“Since when?” 

Jeonghan thinks about it. “The last few weeks.”

Seungcheol blinks. “Jeonghan, you only asked me out last week.”

“Yeah because Shua said I should stop whining about you not being my boyfriend and just ask you out already,” Jeonghan says, wrinkling his nose like taking advice from his best friend pains him. “He said it was weird to refer to you as my boyfriend when we hadn’t been on a date yet.”

“I mean, a little?” Seungcheol says. “But like...it doesn’t bother me.”

“It doesn’t?”

“I’ve wanted to be your boyfriend since the day we met,” Seungcheol says, the honesty tugging at his throat and making it burn. “Plus, we studied a lot in the library and those could be counted as dates.”

“That’s why Shua stopped coming,” Jeonghan says with a grin. “He said he couldn’t watch us flirt anymore, especially if we weren’t going to do anything about it.”

“Jeez,” Seungcheol says. He looks down at his feet and drags his boot through the accumulated snow. “We’re kind of a mess, aren’t we?”

“I’m okay with messy,” Jeonghan replies. He steps closer, his boots nudging against Seungcheol’s. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I said yes to hotteok,” Seungcheol says, grinning at the ground when Jeonghan lets out an annoyed sound. He looks up and smiles into Jeonghan’s unimpressed face. “And yes it’s okay if you call me your boyfriend. I would love that.”

“Good.” Jeonghan leans in and kisses Seungcheol, quick and sweet. “Food now?”

“Anything you want,” Seungcheol says, wrapping his gloved hand around Jeonghan’s. Jeonghan smiles and tugs him along. 

*

Seungcheol walks into the house to see Jeonghan arranging sunflowers in a vase at the kitchen table.

“Are those for Minghao and Junhui?” 

“Why would they be?” Jeonghan asks, peering at Seungcheol through the stalks. Seungcheol blinks in confusion. They’ve been talking about Minghao’s and Junhui’s anniversary all week, and they’re going next door for dinner tonight, which is why Seungcheol hadn’t picked anything up on the way home. Seungcheol’s and Jeonghan’s own anniversary isn’t for another month. Seungcheol already has the flower order scheduled at his favorite flower shop.

Jeonghan starts laughing. “God, you should see your face right now.”

“Brat,” Seungcheol mutters, coming up behind Jeonghan and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “What time did they say to come over?”

“Seven,” Jeonghan replies. “You have time to lay down.”

“Thank god,” Seungcheol groans. “Are you coming?”

“Of course,” Jeonghan says. “But no funny business. We’ll fall asleep.”

Jeonghan doesn’t follow him upstairs right away, breaking off to head outside into the backyard. Seungcheol hovers with a foot on the stairs, their bed calling to him, but his need to follow Jeonghan wins out. 

“Do you need help with something?” Seungcheol asks from the back door. He watches Jeonghan step through their elaborate backyard garden, heading for the sunflowers again. They’ve come in really well this year, growing twice the size as the previous year, which Jeonghan attests to Minghao’s tips. 

“I just need to cut another flower,” Jeonghan calls back. He studies them closely before picking one out, and holds it gently as he walks back to the house. “I only cut seven by accident,” Jeonghan says. “There have to be eight.”

Seungcheol watches Jeonghan add the flower to the arrangement, the familiar feeling of how much he loves Jeonghan blooming in his chest. 

They spend close to an hour cuddling in bed before they have to get up again to get ready. Jeonghan makes Seungcheol carry the vase because it’s heavy, but it’s worth it when Minghao’s face lights up after he opens the door. Seungkwan and Hansol are already in the kitchen with Junhui, laughing and helping with the final touches on dinner. Minghao helps Seungcheol find a good place to set the vase down while Jeonghan gets drinks for them both. 

It’s a fun night filled with good food and better company. They linger at the table after most of the eating is done, drinking some more and sharing stories. Seungcheol turns when Jeonghan taps his arm, and sees Jeonghan holding out a bite of food for him. Seungcheol lets Jeonghan feed him and smiles at him before they go back to their respective conversations. He finds Jeonghan’s hand on the table and holds it gently. Jeonghan’s thumb strokes his knuckles a few times before stilling, but he leaves his hand where it is.

Seungcheol smiles and holds on tighter. 

*

“Can I help you find anything?”

Seungcheol turns to the flower shop attendant. There’s always a need for flowers, even in the dead of winter, and Seungcheol is glad he found this place. 

“I wanted to get a rose,” Seungcheol says. He wishes he could afford more — Jeonghan deserves a whole garden — but Seungcheol can only afford so much after paying for school and rent. Seungcheol can do something more elaborate for their future anniversaries. It’s a little presumptive to think that they’ll have any more anniversaries — this is only the first after all — but Seungcheol has a good feeling about Jeonghan. He doesn’t plan on letting him go. 

“We can definitely do that,” the woman says. “Any preference on color?” 

Seungcheol peruses the selection carefully, but doesn’t see the color he wants. 

“Is there anyway you can make it purple?”

“Of course.” The woman smiles at him and gets everything gathered together, wrapping the rose carefully in paper and explaining how the dye will work and how to keep it alive longer. Seungcheol listens carefully, taking notes on an old receipt that he slips back into his wallet. He leaves the flower shop with the rose tucked carefully inside his jacket to keep it safe from the elements, and hurries home to get ready for the night. He doesn’t want to keep Jeonghan waiting.

*

“ _Why?_ ” Seungcheol groans. He pokes at the pipe in front of him, which is still leaking persistently even though he just tightened all the bolts. He hears the front door open and close, and Jeonghan’s voice calls to him from the entryway. 

“In the kitchen!” Seungcheol calls back, voice muffled from where he’s half-twisted under the sink. 

“Oh, hello,” Jeonghan says from the vicinity of Seungcheol’s feet. Seungcheol glances out and sees the bottom of Jeonghan’s jeans and his socks. “For me?”

Seungcheol rolls his eyes and kicks at Jeonghan a little bit. He doesn’t have time to be ogled right now. 

“This pipe is still leaking,” Seungcheol grumbles. 

“We can just call someone,” Jeonghan comments.

“I can do it,” Seungcheol says. “I think I’m just doing something wrong.”

“Okay,” Jeonghan replies easily, which is suspicious in itself. Normally Jeonghan teases Seungcheol about how he tries to prove he can do things himself, telling Seungcheol to fetch his man chest — no matter how many times Seungcheol has told him it’s a tool kit —any time something breaks in the house. He looks down again and sees Jeonghan’s feet shifting nervously, which is not a normal habit. Seungcheol decides the pipe can wait a little longer. 

He maneuvers himself out of the cramped space to sit on the floor and stretches out his neck. A rag appears in front of his face and he takes it with a smile. 

“Thanks,” he says, looking up at Jeonghan. “Holy shit.”

Jeonghan blinks down at him, but doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t even lift a hand to his newly cut hair. 

“Jeonghan, babe,” Seungcheol scrambles to his feet. “Your hair!”

He’s been cutting it shorter and shorter for months now, and when he’d left the house this morning it was just past chin length. It’s all gone now. Seungcheol can see evidence of buzzing at the sides but there’s still a lot of it on top. Not to mention Jeonghan has dyed all of it a bright blond. 

“You look amazing,” Seungcheol breathes. He reaches out, because he wants to see if the undercut is as soft as it looks, but Jeonghan’s hand intercepts his. 

“Your hands are gross,” Jeonghan says mildly. “Don’t touch me.”

Seungcheol washes his hands quickly, leaking pipe be damned, but Jeonghan is already searching through the fridge by the time he dries them. 

“Come here,” Seungcheol says, reaching for Jeonghan and crowding him against the fridge door. He gets his hands in Jeonghan’s hair and marvels at the softness. It doesn’t tuck behind Jeonghan’s ears anymore and Seungcheol smiles in delight at the way it falls over his forehead instead. 

“Wow,” Seungcheol murmurs. “I really love it.”

“You do?” Jeonghan asks, and there’s the weird hesitation that Seungcheol isn’t used to seeing from him. He’s staring at Seungcheol’s shoulder instead of meeting his gaze. Seungcheol cups Jeonghan’s neck in his hands and brushes his fingers over the short hairs at the nape.

“I do,” Seungcheol says. He ducks his head until he can meet Jeonghan’s gaze. “Were you worried I wouldn’t?”

“You loved my long hair,” Jeonghan says. “That was the first thing you said to me when we met.”

“Jeonghan, you could be bald and I’d still find you more attractive than I know how to deal with.”

Jeonghan punches Seungcheol straight in the stomach, but Seungcheol just laughs it off. 

“Why would you even say that?” Jeonghan asks in disgust, but Seungcheol can see his cheeks pinking up at the compliment. Seungcheol laughs and combs the stubborn locks away from Jeonghan’s face before leaning in to kiss him.

*

“Jisoo-ssi!” Seungcheol calls from across the quad. He’s running a little late, and he doesn’t want Jisoo to think he flaked on their group project. Jisoo looks away from where he’s talking to someone and waves to Seungcheol. 

The wind picks up, scattering leaves across the sidewalks and snatching the scarf from the neck of Jisoo’s friend. Seungcheol reaches down and grabs it before it can go far, handing it back to its owner with a smile. There’s a moment of awkwardness as Seungcheol stands there with his hand outstretched, waiting as the guy struggles to flip his long hair out of his face. It’d been blown out of place by the same gust of wind that had stolen his scarf. Seungcheol is content to wait, admiring the guy’s fingers as they work through the strands of hair. 

“Thanks,” the guy says, finally able to see Seungcheol and his outstretched hand. He takes his scarf back, and afraid that the interaction will be over before he’s ready, Seungcheol blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.

“I love your hair.”

The guy blinks at him in surprise before smiling softly. 

“Thanks,” he says again. His smile is as pretty as his hair and his eyes. Seungcheol can’t remember how to breathe.

“Seungcheol, this is my roommate Jeonghan,” Jisoo interrupts, looking between them in amusement. “This is Seungcheol from class.”

“Nice to meet you,” Seungcheol says truthfully. 

“You too,” Jeonghan replies. He’s looking at Seungcheol like he’s expecting something else, but Seungcheol doesn’t know what it is. But he does know that he’ll do whatever it takes to find out.

“Library okay with you?” Jisoo interrupts again to ask. Seungcheol nods, disappointment flooding his gut as he realizes he’s losing his chance, and moves along with Jisoo. Jeonghan trails along next to Jisoo who turns to shoot him a look after a few steps. 

“Don’t you have class?”

“Yeah,” Jeonghan replies, still keeping pace with them. 

“In the science building?”

“Yup,” Jeonghan responds, not even breaking stride as he reverses and starts walking in the opposite direction. Seungcheol laughs. The science building is on the opposite side of campus from the library. He peeks over his shoulder to see Jeonghan one last time, smiling delightedly when he sees Jeonghan doing the same thing. 

Jisoo is shaking his head in exasperated amusement when Seungcheol faces forward again, and Seungcheol hides his smile in his scarf. 

*

Seungcheol waits for Seungkwan by the elevators, glancing at his watch the longer it takes for the other man to arrive. They have dinner reservations with Jeonghan and Hansol, and Seungcheol doesn’t want to be late. He knows that Hansol wouldn’t really care, but he doesn’t want to face Jeonghan’s wrath if they’re not on time, especially since he had to cancel last week because one of his meetings ran long.

“Sorry, sorry!” Seungkwan apologizes as he bursts out of the doors leading to his office. “Let’s go. I’m fucking _starving._ ”

It’s a quick walk from their shared office building to their favorite fancy noodle restaurant, and Seungcheol smiles happily as the fall breeze dances around them. Seungkwan seems to be in an equally cheerful mood, but that’s also because he’s been talking non-stop for the past five minutes about the birthday present he’d picked out for Hansol.

“Wait.” Seungcheol says, remembering that Hansol’s birthday isn’t until February. “What about his Christmas present?” 

Seungkwan looks at Seungcheol like he’s the stupidest person alive. “I’ve had that for months.” 

Seungcheol blinks. The beginning of September was only last week. Seungkwan is looking at him like he dares him to say something, so Seungcheol wisely stays quiet. 

“Well, it sounds cool,” Seungcheol says. 

“Cool?” Seungkwan scoffs. “It’s _awesome._ ”

Seungkwan only shuts up about the present once they get inside the restaurant, and that’s only because they spot Jeonghan and Hansol at their usual table and make their way over. Seungcheol greets Jeonghan with a kiss, and then smiles and does it again just because he can. 

“Flirt,” Jeonghan mumbles, tugging on Seungcheol’s tie. Seungcheol grins and settles down next to him, making sure their thighs press together. 

“Were you guys still interested in that concert next month?” Hansol asks as they’re digging into their meals. 

Jeonghan shakes his head. “We have a block party the same night,” he says. “There’s that new couple and it’s their first one since they moved in. We promised to make brownies.”

“We did?” Seungcheol asks. 

Jeonghan smiles and pats him on the thigh. “It’s okay. I’ll do it.”

“I’ll help,” Seungcheol says. Jeonghan smiles and leans forward to give him another kiss.

Seungkwan sighs wistfully. “God, it’d be the dream to live in your neighborhood,” he says. “It’s so cozy and gay.” 

“Let’s live there then,” Hansol says, and chaos descends on the table. Seungcheol and Jeonghan turn to look at Hansol in surprise as Seungkwan chokes on a bite of noodles. Hansol looks at Seungkwan in alarm and pounds on his back while simultaneously trying to hand him a glass of water. 

“What do you _mean,_ ‘let’s live there’?” Seungkwan gets out between coughs. There are tears streaming down his face and he’s clutching the glass of water in both hands. 

“You want to live there, so let’s live there,” Hansol repeats calmly. 

“Hansol, we don’t even live together yet,” Seungkwan informs him, as if everyone sitting at the table wasn’t already aware of this fact. Jeonghan and Seungcheol continue to eat their noodles, watching the free show that’s accompanying their dinner. 

“I know that, but I’m tired of living in apartments,” Hansol says. He looks down at his hands in his lap and there’s finally a hint of embarrassment visible as the tips of his ears turn red. “And I’m tired of not living with you, so.”

He shrugs and looks at Seungkwan hopefully. Seungkwan is still red in the face, and there are still tears in his eyes — though Seungcheol thinks they’re emotional tears now — but he starts to nod. 

“Then yeah, let’s move into the gay neighborhood,” Seungkwan says. 

“I had something else I wanted to ask you, too,” Hansol says, reaching into his pocket. Seungcheol goes abruptly still and Jeonghan reaches over to grip his knee tightly. 

“Hansol, I swear to fuck if you propose to me right now, I’ll actually have a heart attack,” Seungkwan says, throwing a hand over his eyes. 

“Nah,” Hansol replies, pulling out his phone. He winks at Seungcheol and Jeonghan. “Not yet, anyway. I just want you to look at this dog, and before you say no, think of how much yard space we’ll have at our new gay house.”

Seungkwan gasps and sputters and then actually quiets down to look at the pictures. Seungcheol and Jeonghan exchange exasperated grins. 

“Your friends are ridiculous,” Jeonghan whispers. 

“They’re your friends now too,” Seungcheol responds. “And they’re gonna be our neighbors soon.” 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes, but Seungcheol sees the grin he’s trying to hide. Seungcheol lets his own smile grow and turns back to his meal. 

*

Jeonghan frowns. 

Seungcheol crosses his arms, imitates the frown, and stands next to him. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“The front door is ugly,” Jeonghan says. 

“We can paint the front door,” Seungcheol replies. 

“The backyard is a wreck.”

“It can be a project. We can make it into that garden we talked about.” 

“Hmm.”

Seungcheol falls silent again and lets Jeonghan think. They’ve been living together for over a year in a smallish apartment, saving money for a down payment on a house. They’ve spent the last few months house hunting across various different neighborhoods. Seungcheol has liked a lot of the houses, but Jeonghan has found an issue with each one. Seungcheol knows he’s nervous about the money and the commitment — to the house and the debt, not to Seungcheol, they already had that long talk — but he doesn’t want to push Jeonghan into a decision. At this rate, though, they’ll never find a place. 

“The commute isn’t gr— is that a Pride flag?”

Seungcheol looks where Jeonghan is pointing. The little rainbow flag stuck in the neighbor’s flower box had been out of sight before, but a sudden breeze has it flapping in the wind now. The sun is shining on it, and Seungcheol feels something settle in his chest. 

“Awesome,” Seungcheol says. 

Jeonghan clears his throat. 

“The backyard isn’t that bad,” he says. “And we can both fit in the shower at the same time. It’s really big.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol says, reaching out and gathering Jeonghan in his arms. “It really is.”

*

**Seungcheol**  
_Why do all of my friends come to me when they’re having emotional crises???_

**Jeonghan**  
_Bc you have a big heart and you always know what to say_

**Seungcheol**  
_Aw ♡_

**Jeonghan**  
_Plus ur a sucker and they know they can get you to listen_

**Seungcheol**  
_Fuck you_

**Jeonghan**  
_That wasn’t the plan for tonight : <_

Seungcheol looks at Jihoon, who is busy pacing a hole in the living room carpet. Jeonghan got stuck on campus late tonight, writing exams for the beginning of finals week tomorrow, so Seungcheol is left to deal with this on his own. 

“Do you want some tea?”

“No,” Jihoon says. “Thanks. I mean, no thank you.” 

“Alright,” Seungcheol says.

“Actually! Yes.”

Seungcheol blinks, and then gets up to head to the kitchen. Jihoon follows close behind. Seungcheol picks a nice, calming blend that he got from Hansol’s mom. 

“I’m going to ask Jisoo to marry me.” 

Seungcheol fumbles the tea leaves and scatters some on the counter accidentally. He turns to Jihoon, grin already growing wide on his face.

“Finally!”

“Ugh, I know,” Jihoon says. “I know. We just weren’t ready yet.”

“When are you going to do it?” Seungcheol asks. “How? Oh my god. Does Jeonghan know?”

“Do you think I have a death wish? Of course Jeonghan knows.” Jihoon’s face is bright red, but he’s smiling now too. “I wrote him a song, so I was going to take him out to that place he likes — you know by the river? — and sing for him after.” 

“So romantic,” Seungcheol coos. “Way more romantic than me.”

“What?” Jihoon gives Seungcheol a disbelieving look. “Jeonghan says your proposal was the most romantic thing that ever happened to him.”

Seungcheol blinks. He and Jeonghan must remember his proposal very differently, because Seungcheol made a big fool of himself that day. He’s just lucky Jeonghan said yes, and to this day he’s not convinced it wasn’t just because both their names are on the mortgage. 

“I just need you to tell me it’s going to be fine,” Jihoon says, bringing Seungcheol back to the present. 

“Jihoon.” Seungcheol reaches out and takes Jihoon’s hands in his. Jihoon allows it, which is how Seungcheol knows he’s nervous and freaked out about this. “It’s going to be amazing. Jisoo is going to love it and he’s definitely going to say yes.”

Jihoon breathes out a sigh of relief and slumps forward into Seungcheol. Seungcheol gathers him in a hug with a bemused smile. 

“Hey,” he says after a few minutes of silence. “Can I hear the song?”

“No, fucker,” Jihoon grumbles. “It’s for Jisoo.”

Seungcheol pouts, and Jihoon pulls back to look at him. He sighs loudly. 

“Fine,” Jihoon says. “Maybe at the wedding.” 

Seungcheol grins. “ _Definitely_ at the wedding.”

*

Jeonghan isn’t in the house when Seungcheol gets home, but when he peeks out of the bedroom window as he’s changing, he sees Jeonghan’s sunhat bobbing between the rows of the garden as he weeds. Seungcheol makes a pit stop in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, and makes his way out to join his boyfriend. Jeonghan doesn’t hear him coming, so Seungcheol holds the bottle of water up high and lets the condensation drip down to land on Jeonghan’s exposed neck. 

“The fuck?” Jeonghan mutters, reaching back with a dirty glove and touching his neck. He smears dirt on the skin, and Seungcheol fails to smother a chuckle. Jeonghan turns all the way around and pins Seungcheol with an unamused look.

“I’m out here, slaving away to provide food for the table, and that’s how you treat me?”

“This is food?” Seungcheol asks, looking at the leaves curiously. They’ve only just started to sprout, so Seungcheol has no idea what they’re supposed to be. 

“They’re carrots,” Jeonghan says haughtily, and then less sure of himself because he forgot to put the markers in the ground, “I think.” 

“Oh,” Seungcheol says. “When?”

Jeonghan glares at him. “Two months.” 

Seungcheol laughs and Jeonghan snatches the water bottle from his hand, cracking it open and taking a long gulp. He’s sweaty and a little sunburnt despite the hat, and Seungcheol thinks he’s never looked more beautiful. 

“It’s really sexy that you’re working so hard to provide food for us,” Seungcheol says. 

“Yeah?” Jeonghan smirks. “That gets you going?”

“Oh yeah,” Seungcheol says. Jeonghan laughs, and Seungcheol watches him happily. 

“I really want to marry you.” It slips out of Seungcheol’s mouth before he realizes what he’s saying, but he doesn’t want to take it back. Jeonghan’s eyes widen, the water bottle toppling out of his hand and hitting the dirt with a splash.

“Is this you proposing?” Jeonghan demands. “I’m the one who’s kneeling!”

Seungcheol drops to his knees in a hurry, grabbing Jeonghan’s gloved hands despite the dirt caked on them. 

“I was planning something super romantic,” Seungcheol says. “With a lot of roses and wine and like, a band.”

“And?”

“Well, it’s still in the process,” Seungcheol admits. “I had a reservation for September.”

“Our anniversary is in December,” Jeonghan says slowly, as if Seungcheol could forget that. 

“Yeah, but we met in September,” Seungcheol reminds him.

“Ah,” Jeonghan blushes. “Yeah, we did.”

Seungcheol grins, squeezing Jeonghan’s hands. 

“Do you even have a ring yet?” Jeonghan asks, face still burning. 

“Jeonghan. I’ve had the ring since we helped Wonwoo and Seokmin move in.”

“That was years ago,” Jeonghan rasps. 

“Yeah,” Seungcheol says with a grin. 

“God, you—“

A sudden crack of thunder interrupts Jeonghan. Seconds later, Seungcheol scrambles to his feet and drags Jeonghan up, and they sprint for the house through the beginning of a downpour. They ran for no reason, because they’re both soaked by the time they get into the sunroom. Seungcheol turns to Jeonghan uncertainly. 

“Jeonghan, I—“ 

Jeonghan slams into him so hard that Seungcheol stumbles a little bit, shoes slipping on the wet tile. Jeonghan kisses him furiously, tasting like sweat and rainwater and sunblock. Seungcheol drags him closer with hands wrapped around his waist, and soon they’re scrabbling at each other’s belts. 

“Right here?” Seungcheol pants as Jeonghan yanks at his shirt. 

“You just asked me to marry you, so yeah. Right here,” Jeonghan growls back. Seungcheol catches his hands and strips off the filthy gloves. 

“Technically I didn’t _ask,_ ” Seungcheol goads. 

Jeonghan makes a wordless noise that’s half rage, half amusement and pushes Seungcheol backwards. Seungcheol laughs as the backs of his knees hit the wicker couch, and falls down onto it easily. Jeonghan straddles his lap and leans down for another kiss. He’s still wearing the sunhat, and water drips from the brim onto Seungcheol’s face before he pushes it back. It falls down onto Jeonghan’s back, but the tie around Jeonghan’s neck keeps it from falling to the ground. 

“Don’t you want to see the ring?” Seungcheol asks, taking Jeonghan’s hand and kissing his knuckles. Jeonghan goes still and seems to consider it, but as Seungcheol shifts underneath him his eyes sharpen. 

“Later,” Jeonghan says. “And then I’ll show you yours.”

Seungcheol’s noise of surprise is muffled by Jeonghan’s kiss, but he’s more than happy to shut up for a little bit. 

*

Seungcheol wakes up to something wet and cold smearing across his face. His arms feel heavy when he raises his hands to get whatever it is away from his face, but he stops when he hears, “Ah, ah.” He opens his eyes to see Jeonghan hovering over him, bottle of sunblock in one hand as the other smears it determinedly on his cheeks. 

“Why?” Seungcheol croaks out. “I was sleeping.” 

“I don’t want you to get a sunburn,” Jeonghan says, rubbing the lotion in more firmly. “It’s not good for you. You’ll get wrinkles.”

“You’re not going to love me when I’m wrinkly?” 

Jeonghan pinches Seungcheol’s cheek unforgivingly, ignoring Seungcheol’s yelp of protest. He stands up and tosses the bottle down, smirking when it hits Seungcheol in the stomach. 

“See if I try and help you again,” Jeonghan mutters, already on his way back to the house.

“Wait!” Seungcheol calls after him. “Can you do my back?” 

Jeonghan raises his hand high in the air and flips him off, Seungcheol hears a chuckle and glances over the fence to see Minghao working in his garden, watching their exchange with a smile on his face. Seungcheol waves at him and then settles back in his chair. 

*

Seungcheol uses the headband to push his hair out of the way, and sits still as Jihoon attacks his face with the mud mask. It’s a weekly ritual the two of them have, when they’re finally done with homework for the week and they have a moment to relax. His phone vibrates with a text from Jisoo as Jihoon covers Seungcheol’s face. Seungcheol glances at it quickly and tells Jisoo that yes, he can drop by Seungcheol’s room to borrow the book for class. 

“Jisoo is stopping by,” Seungcheol says as Jihoon wipes his hands off. 

“What?” Jihoon asks, the whites of his eyes bright again the brown of the mask. “Right now?”

“Yeah? It’s for like, one second,” Seungcheol says, watching as Jihoon adjusts his own headband. He smirks as understanding dawns. “Oh.”

“Oh nothing,” Jihoon says. “Shut the fuck up.” 

There’s a knock on their door, surprising the both of them. Jisoo was closer than Seungcheol thought. Jihoon looks like he wants to run, but there’s nowhere for him to go. Their dorm room is tiny with only a sink in the corner, but no bathroom. 

“I won’t open the door that wide,” Seungcheol promises, getting up to pull it open. “Hey, Jisoo—” Seungcheol chokes a little. “Um. Hi, Jeonghan.”

Jeonghan smiles at him delightedly. “Face masks?” 

“Self care is important,” Seungcheol mumbles, unable take his eyes off Jeonghan. He’d dyed his hair a silvery-blue over their midterm break and it catches Seungcheol’s eye everytime he sees him. Well — everything about Jeonghan draws his attention. Sometimes Seungcheol will be minding his own business, eating lunch in the cafeteria, when he hears loud laughter from across the room, already knowing he’ll see Jeonghan as he turns to see who it is. He’s able to pick it out everytime. 

Seungcheol is so distracted by the fall of Jeonghan’s hair and his small smirk that he forgets to keep Jisoo from seeing Jihoon. 

“Hey, Jihoon,” Jisoo says, reminding Seungcheol that he and Jeonghan aren’t the only two people present. 

“Hi,” Jihoon says shortly, and then turns a glare on Seungcheol. Seungcheol hurries to get the book from his desk and hands it over to Jisoo. 

“Thank you so much,” Jisoo says. “I’m really sorry to bother you. We’ll leave you guys to it.”

Seungcheol heart drops as he watches them start to turn away, and his mouth starts going before he can stop himself. “Do you guys want to stay?” He glances at Jeonghan, and then away quickly. Jisoo looks like he’s about to say no, which totally makes sense, but then he jumps a little. Seungcheol just catches Jeonghan’s hand drifting back to his own side, and wonders if he really just pinched Jisoo. 

“That sounds fun,” Jisoo says, sounding sincere even though Seungcheol knows he was a little coerced. Seungcheol lets them into the room and Jihoon scrounges up more headbands as Jeonghan pulls his hair back into a ponytail.

“You can sit up here if you want,” Seungcheol says, gesturing to his bed. He thanks his past self for washing his sheets yesterday as Jeonghan climbs up next to him. Jisoo opts for Jihoon’s desk chair instead of climbing up on either bed, but Jihoon looks unaffected when Seungcheol sneaks a glance at him. 

Jeonghan takes the offered bottle. He smirks, though it’s not unkind. “Anti-wrinkle?”

“It’s never too early to worry about that,” Seungcheol replies defensively. Jeonghan grins and squirts the mask out and smears it over his skin in quick, practiced motions. He turns to Seungcheol and widens his eyes. 

“Am I handsome?” 

Seungcheol lets out a loud laugh, startling all of them except Jeonghan, who looks like he got the reaction he wanted. 

“You’re cracking your mask,” Jeonghan says sadly. 

Seungcheol does his best to stop smiling. “I can’t help it.” 

“So I am handsome?” Jeonghan asks, fluttering his eyelashes. 

“You know you are,” Jisoo sighs resignedly. “Fishing for compliments isn’t cute.”

Seungcheol, feeling brave, leans forward. Jeonghan leans forward too, eyes flashing conspiratorially. 

“It’s a little cute,” Seungcheol whispers. Jeonghan’s teeth flash white and he goes back to applying more of the mask. Seungcheol leans back, feeling pleased with himself and glad the mask is hiding his blush. 

*

Seungcheol pauses as he reaches for the fridge handle, realizing the poetry magnets are in a different pattern than normal. 

_You forgot the milk_  
_I was looking forward to it_  
_I want a divorce_

Seungcheol blanches and rips open the fridge, and sure enough, he’d forgotten to pick up more milk on the way home like he’d promised he would. He swipes his keys and wallet from the counter and hurries for the front door. 

“I’ll be back in a bit!” He calls over his shoulder to Jeonghan, who is sitting in the living room reading a book. Seungcheol should’ve realized he looked too innocent when he kissed him hello earlier.

“Oh?” Jeonghan calls back as Seungcheol shoves some shoes on. “Where are you going?” 

“You’re not cute!” Seungcheol responds. “See you in a minute!” 

Maybe he should also pick up some of Jeonghan’s favorite chocolates, or the fixings for banana splits, as long as he’s already at the store. He doesn’t really want to sleep with only half of the covers tonight, which is Jeonghan’s favorite passive aggressive way of letting Seungcheol know he’s upset. 

Seungcheol gets in the car and throws it into gear, heading toward the nearest store. 

*

Jeonghan’s hand stills the nervous bouncing of Seungcheol’s knee. He shoots Jeonghan a sheepish look. He didn’t even realize he was doing it. 

“Don’t be nervous,” Jeonghan says. “It’s gonna be fine.”

“Why would I be nervous?” Seungcheol replies. “I’m just meeting two of your closest friends from elementary school. Nothing to be nervous about.” 

Jeonghan grins. “Exactly.”

He stands and waves at the door. Seungcheol hurries to stand with him and spots the guys coming toward them.

“Shit,” Seungcheol mutters. “How are all of your friends so good looking?”

Jeonghan shoots him an amused look and elbows him gently. Seungcheol doesn’t embarrass himself during the introductions, and he doesn’t spill his water on himself when they all sit back down, so it’s going good so far. 

Seokmin is hilarious. He’s loud and expressive, and he starts talking to Seungcheol like they’ve known each other forever, and there isn’t a dull moment in the conversation when he’s there. Wonwoo is quiet at first, but when Jeonghan starts to tell an embarrassing story about him from middle school, he yells so loudly and so suddenly that the surrounding patrons all look at them in concern. Wonwoo hides his face in his arms in embarrassment, but the rest of the table is laughing too hard to notice. 

“Stop,” Wonwoo groans. “Oh my _god._ ” Seokmin laughs in delight and throws his arms around Wonwoo, cooing in his ear and planting a kiss on his cheek. Jeonghan watches them happily, and Seungcheol is happy to see Jeonghan so happy. 

But Seungcheol fucks up when Seokmin heads to the bathroom and their server returns to the table to ask if they want dessert. Seungcheol orders a banana split that he intends to share with Jeonghan, and Wonwoo orders a milkshake with two straws for himself and Seokmin. 

“Jeonghan didn’t say you guys were dating,” Seungcheol says as they complete their order, thinking about the cheek kisses and the shared dessert order. Wonwoo blinks at Seungcheol in confusion as Jeonghan starts to choke on his water. 

“Who?” Wonwoo asks. He glances over Jeonghan’s and Seungcheol’s shoulder and then starts to blush furiously. “Me and Seokmin?”

“Yes?” Seungcheol glances at Jeonghan, but he has his face hidden in his hand, so he’s no help. “Is that...not true?”

“No,” Wonwoo says quickly. “No. We’re just friends.” 

“I’m sorry,” Seungcheol says. “I didn’t mean to assume, it just seemed like...ah. Like you were.”

Seokmin chooses the end of Seungcheol’s apology to arrive back at the table. He looks around at them — Wonwoo’s blushing face, Seungcheol’s horrified expression, and Jeonghan’s red face from holding in his laughter.

“What did I miss?”

*

Seungcheol stands at the edge of the water, letting the waves crash over his feet and sinking into the sand underneath him. Behind him he can hear Jisoo and Jeonghan arguing about how to get the umbrella to stay in the sand. He’d offer to help, but he’s finally shaking off the last of the jetlag and he wants to enjoy this moment. 

“Why are everyone’s shorts so small?” Jihoon asks, coming up next to Seungcheol. He’s looking around them uncertainly. 

“That’s how they do it in LA,” Jisoo says, appearing on Jihoon’s other side. 

“Oh god, did you hear that accent?” Jeonghan says from behind them. “I’m _Joshua Hong_ and I’m from _LA._ ”

Jisoo kicks some sand at Jeonghan, who yelps and jumps away. Seungcheol holds out a hand to him. 

“Come in the water!” 

Jeonghan shakes his head and backs up more. “Only if it’s not cold.” 

“It’s the Pacific Ocean,” Jisoo says. “It’s always going to be cold.” 

“Oh well.” Jeonghan shrugs, but Seungcheol doesn’t let him off that easy. It’s only a few steps to get to Jeonghan, and it’s even easier to get his arms around Jeonghan’s waist and lift him up off the sand. Jeonghan yells and wraps his limbs around Seungcheol tightly as Seungcheol turns and walks toward the water. 

“Don’t you fucking drop me,” Jeonghan threatens. 

“Or what?” Seungcheol says, striding to knee deep water and trying to do just that. Jeonghan clings tighter, so Seungcheol has to resort to other measures. He bends over and lets Jeonghan dangle. Jeonghan grins at him, but doesn’t let go, not even when a waves break across his face. He sputters and curses at Seungcheol, and only lets go when Seungcheol says, “There’s seaweed on your face.” 

Jeonghan shrieks and finally lets go, dropping down into the water with a splash. He resurfaces, soaked and looking murderous, and Seungcheol backs up and tries to escape. 

“Not that cold, right?” Seungcheol says as Jeonghan pelts him with handfuls of wet sand. 

“You’re _dead._ ”

“Save it for your hotel room!” Jihoon calls from his safe spot under the umbrella. Jisoo laughs and smacks him on the chest. 

“There are families here, Jihoon,” he says, scandalized.

“They can’t understand me,” Jihoon replies. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t ruin their anniversary trip,” Seungcheol says as he catches Jeonghan’s wrist right as he’s about to throw another handful of sand. “They didn’t have to invite us on this.”

Jeonghan frowns but lets the sand fall from his fist. Seungcheol grins and pulls Jeonghan close by the waist, chasing his frown away with a kiss. It’s easy to let his hand drift down and settle on the waistband of Jeonghan’s swim trunks. Jeonghan sucks in a breath and bites down on Seungcheol’s lower lip. 

“Alright!” Jisoo yells at them. “Save it for your hotel room!”

*

Seungcheol finishes his sentence, hits save, and sits back in his seat with a sigh. The paper still needs to be edited and improved, but the dreaded first draft is done, and that’s all he can handle for tonight. He’s been in the library for too long today. 

He peeks under the table and looks at his sleeping boyfriend. Jeonghan had tapped out around three hours into their five hour library session, sliding to the floor and using his backpack as a pillow. Seungcheol hates to wake him up, but Jeonghan has a perfectly good bed he could be sleeping in. He nudges Jeonghan’s hip with his sneaker, but gets no response. 

Sighing, he slides off his chair and kneels next to his boyfriend’s unconscious body.

“Babe,” he whispers, shaking Jeonghan’s arm gently. “C’mon, you can’t sleep here.”

Jeonghan makes a sleepy sound and turns onto his side, away from Seungcheol.

“Come on,” Seungcheol says, patting Jeonghan’s butt lightly. “I’ll cuddle with you back at your room if you get up now.”

“Like that’s such a hardship for you,” Jeonghan mumbles. 

“Ah!” Seungcheol fake cheers. “He’s alive!”

“No I’m not,” Jeonghan responds, already sounding like he’s falling back asleep. “I think I died.”

“If you get upright for like, thirty seconds, I’ll give you a piggyback to your room.”

“Deal,” Jeonghan says immediately. He throws out a hand and narrowly avoids smacking Seungcheol in the face. Seungcheol grabs the hand and tries to drag Jeonghan out from underneath the table as gently as possible. He packs his backpack quickly and slings it on his front as he watches Jeonghan struggle upward. Jeonghan adjusts his own backpack and climbs up on Seungcheol’s back, sighing happily once he’s settled. 

“Is Jisoo in the room?” Seungcheol asks as they set off across campus. He knows Jisoo doesn’t mind if he sleeps over, but he feels weird about kissing Jeonghan with his roommate asleep not even ten feet away.

“Probably,” Jeonghan says around a yawn. “He’s either doing homework or Skyping his mom.” He sighs. “He needs a boyfriend.”

Seungcheol chuckles. “Jihoon is single.”

Jeonghan hums thoughtfully, resting his head on top of Seungcheol’s. “We might be onto something here.” 

It takes a bit of maneuvering to get the keycard from Jeonghan’s back pocket to Seungcheol’s hand to get them into the building, and by the time they get up to Jeonghan’s room, Seungcheol is ready to let him down. Still, he holds out for the last minute, wiggling the key into the lock and getting the door open. Jeonghan kicks the door open wide, and he and Seungcheol gape in surprise. 

“Uh, hi,” Jisoo says, hair fucked up and lips a bright, cherry red. “I thought you guys would be a while longer at the library.” 

“Hey,” Jihoon, in a similar state to Jisoo, says from Jisoo’s lap. “What’s up?”

“Well,” Seungcheol says, once he regains the ability to speak. “I guess they don’t need our help.” 

Jeonghan throws his head back and laughs.

*

“Do you think we’re boring?”

Seungcheol focuses on the mugs of hot chocolate in front of him and adds whipped cream to each one. He gives himself a normal amount, and then doubles the amount for Jeonghan’s mug. He’s adding chocolate sprinkles on top when he hears Jeonghan sigh from the other room. “ _Seungcheol._ ”

“No,” Seungcheol says as he sets the mugs down next to the cookies on the waiting tray and picks the whole thing up. When he walks into the living room Jeonghan is wrapped in an afghan on the couch, frowning at his phone.

“Who said we were boring?” Seungcheol asks. He deposits the tray on the coffee table before stoking the fire a little higher and triple-checking that the flue is open. 

“Hmm?” Jeonghan asks, scrolling this his phone single-mindedly. Seungcheol smiles and returns the poker to its place, wiping his hands off before he joins Jeonghan on the couch. Jeonghan snuggles up to him immediately, resting his head on Seungcheol’s shoulder and giving him a view of his phone. 

“Ah,” Seungcheol says, seeing pictures of Chan’s winter holiday with his boyfriend fly by. “I see.”

“He keeps calling me an old man,” Jeonghan grumbles. Seungcheol chuckles a little, but swiftly turns it into a cough when Jeonghan elbows him in the stomach. 

“Maybe if you didn’t make him call himself your baby for years and years,” Seungcheol points out mildly. Jeonghan’s silence lets Seungcheol know he agrees with him, but doesn’t want to say it. Seungcheol reaches out to take Jeonghan’s phone and puts it out of reach on the coffee table. Jeonghan lets it go without a fight and turns in Seungcheol’s arms. 

“Hey,” Seungcheol murmurs.

“Hi.” Jeonghan leans in to kiss Seungcheol, and Seungcheol’s hands get tangled in the afghan when he reaches up to thread his fingers through Jeonghan’s hair. He’s letting it grow longer again, and Seungcheol loves running his fingers through it now just as much as he did when they were first dating. 

“Happy anniversary, old man,” Seungcheol says when they part for air. Jeonghan huffs a little, but smiles anyway. 

“Happy anniversary.”

The hot chocolate is going cold on the table, and the fire probably needs to be stoked again, but Seungcheol is happy to stay where he is with Jeonghan in his arms. 

*

A familiar pair of hands lands on the counter in front of Seungcheol and he blinks at them for a second before looking up to see a mischievous grin. Jeonghan has arrived in all of his glory. His hair is down and free today, despite the heat outside, and Seungcheol can see where it’s sticking to his neck with sweat. 

Seungcheol clears his throat and returns the smile. He’s only three hours into his first shift on this job, and it’s been boring up until now. Jeonghan always knows how to make things interesting. 

“What can I get you?” Seungcheol asks, all business. 

“Hmmm,” Jeonghan considers, eyes flitting over the menu board hanging behind the counter. Seungcheol knows exactly what Jeonghan is going to order, but he lets Jeonghan have his fun. He leans his hip against the counter as he waits.

“What’s your favorite?” Jeonghan eventually asks. Seungcheol turns to the board and pretends to consider, watching Jeonghan out of the corner of his eye. 

“Probably something sweet,” Seungcheol answers. “Definitely with whipped cream on top.”

“Oh?” Jeonghan considers this as Seungcheol turns his gaze back to him. “That’s surprising.”

“Why’s that?” 

Jeonghan lets his gaze rake over Seungcheol and then snaps his eyes back up to Seungcheol’s.

“Athletic types always go for hot, black coffee,” Jeonghan says. “They think it makes them more manly when really they’re dying inside.” 

Seungcheol grins. “What makes you think I’m an athlete?”

“Ha.” Jeonghan finally lifts a hand and lets his fingers graze over Seungcheol’s biceps. It’s true — Seungcheol has been working out more lately, and it’s apparently obvious in the short-sleeved shirt he’d chosen for work. The touch is answer enough, and the brief brush of Jeonghan’s fingers sets Seungcheol’s cheeks burning. 

Jeonghan’s eyes glint when he realizes this and Seungcheol curses silently. He’d been doing so well this time. He has to tip the scales back in his favor. 

“I like sweet things,” Seungcheol continues easily. “They remind me of my boyfriend.”

There. Finally a flicker of surprise cracking Jeonghan’s usually unflappable facade. 

“They do?” 

“Mmhmm,” Seungcheol says. He crosses his arms and maybe flexes, a little. Jeonghan’s cheeks pink up and Seungcheol bites back a smile as he says, “He’s pretty and his lips always taste sweet and he has a cute a—”

Jeonghan clears his throat loudly, and Seungcheol full-on grins. 

“I’ll just have one of whatever that is,” Jeonghan says. He’s not meeting Seungcheol’s gaze now, and Seungcheol knows he’s won. He gets to work on making Jeonghan’s drink, feeling Jeonghan’s gaze on his back the entire time. His coworker, Soonyoung, shoots him a questioning look from down the bar and Seungcheol shrugs in response. 

“Here you go,” Seungcheol says, turning and presenting the drink to Jeonghan. He sees the moment that Jeonghan catches sight of the heart he’d drawn in strawberry syrup on top of the whipped cream. Jeonghan’s eyes narrow. 

“On the house,” Seungcheol says when Jeonghan reaches for his wallet. Jeonghan takes out some bills anyway and stuffs them aggressively into the tip jar. 

“Can I have a straw?” Jeonghan asks. Seungcheol passes one over and watches as Jeonghan lingers at the counter to open it and put it in his drink, taking a sip and smiling sweetly.

“It’s good,” Jeonghan says, and then he takes the straw back out of the drink and licks up the length, cleaning all of the whipped cream from it. Seungcheol chokes. He thought he’d won, but Jeonghan was playing him the entire time. He shoots Seungcheol a sultry look out of the corner of his eye, and finally turns to leave.

“See you later?” Jeonghan says as he goes. 

Seungcheol stops gaping to say, “What? Oh — yes. I’ll meet you outside your class.”

Jeonghan hums happily and leaves, raising his hand in farewell as he goes. Seungcheol stares at the door even after Jeonghan is out of sight, taking a moment to collect himself. 

“What the hell was that all about?” Soonyoung asks. He and Mingyu are watching Seungcheol in delight from where they stand next to the bakery case. “Your first day and already the customers are hitting on you more than me?” 

Seungcheol laughs in delight. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Seungcheol says with a grin. “Jeonghan is my boyfriend.”

Soonyoung starts laughing and then gagging as he comes to the realization that he just witnessed some sort of foreplay. Seungcheol grins and counts down the minutes until he gets out of work to walk Jeonghan home from class. 

*

“Ready?” 

Jeonghan nods and grabs his corners of the sheet, waiting for Seungcheol to do the same. They shake it out in a few big motions, gathering a bunch of air underneath it, and then scramble to get on the bed while the sheet billows out above them. They crash together and their knees smack against each other, but they’re laughing as the sheet settles down on top of them. 

“That was a lot easier when we were kids,” Jeonghan says.

“And when we had the big parachute,” Seungcheol says. 

Jeonghan nods and rolls closer to Seungcheol, tangling the sheets around them further. His shoulder ends up next to Seungcheol’s face, and it’s a nice shoulder, so Seungcheol sets his teeth in it gently.

“Why?” Jeonghan asks, like he does everytime Seungcheol does something like this.

“Because you’re cute,” Seungcheol responds. 

“You chew on things you think are cute?” Jeonghan asks. Seungcheol smiles and skims his hands over Jeonghan’s stomach and then slides his hands under his t-shirt. Jeonghan slides his fingers into Seungcheol’s hair. 

“You get this look on your face when I do it,” Seungcheol says. “That’s why I keep doing it.”

“Gah,” Jeonghan says. “Your face is too cute when you do it. I can’t help myself.”

Seungcheol smiles softly. “Hey.”

“What?”

“Rock, Paper, Scissors for who makes the bed?”

“You’re on.”

*

Jihoon comes into the kitchen, scratching his hair sleepily. He looks from Seungcheol at the stove to Jeonghan by the laundry machines. 

“Did Jeonghan finally officially move in?” 

“The machines flooded at our place,” Jeonghan grumbles. “Again.” 

“I told them they could do it here,” Seungcheol says, flipping the eggs in the pan.

“Jisoo didn’t mention it,” Jihoon says. 

“He’s probably at the laundromat,” Jeonghan says.

“That’s stupid,” Jihoon replies. 

Jeonghan shrugs. “Bring it up with him. You know how he is — Mr. Independent. Meanwhile, I let my sugar daddy take care of me.”

“I want you to die for saying that,” Jihoon says. “I’m going back to bed.”

Jeonghan smiles sunnily as he dumps the last of his laundry in the washing machine, and then sidles up behind Seungcheol. 

“That smells good,” Jeonghan says, peeking over Seungcheol’s shoulder into the pan. 

“You smell good,” Seungcheol responds. “Is that my shampoo?” 

“Yes,” Jeonghan replies. “I really like it. Now I’m going to smell like your laundry soap too. Does that turn you on?”

“Stop,” Seungcheol whines, turning away from the stove to hug Jeonghan properly. “You know it does.”

Jeonghan laughs low in this throat and buries his face in Seungcheol’s neck.

“We should look for a place together,” Jeonghan says conversationally, as if they’ve talked about this before. They haven’t, but Seungcheol’s been thinking about it. 

“I know,” Seungcheol replies, and then shows his hand since Jeonghan has already shown his. “I’ve been keeping my eye out for places.”

“Good,” Jeonghan sighs. “The eggs are burning.”

Seungcheol yelps and turns back to the stove. 

*

“Fuck,” Hansol says as he drops into the seat across from Seungcheol. “Fuck. It’s cold.”

“You should’ve worn your hat,” Seungkwan scolds, cupping Hansol’s bright red ears in his warm palms. Hansol grins at him and sticks his hands — gloveless, of course — under Seungkwan’s sweater. Seungkwan squawks and the rest of the table laughs. 

It really is freezing. Everyone’s saying it’s colder this winter than any past winter, but they say that every year. Seungcheol regrets showing up late because the only seats left were at the end of the table near the window. 

“This is unfair,” he calls out to the table. “The birthday boy shouldn’t have to sit by the cold window.”

No one listens to him. Seungcheol scowls. Chan has the decency to look guilty from the other end of the table, but Seungcheol notices that he doesn’t offer to get up and switch.

He looks down the length of the table and takes in all of his friends. Chan and his boyfriend sit at the other end of the table, caught up in some discussion with Soonyoung. Mingyu’s arm is draped around the back of Soonyoung’s chair as he chats across the table at Wonwoo, who is doing his best to hear Mingyu over the sound of Seokmin and Jihoon having what seems to be a battle to see who can screech the loudest. Jisoo, Junhui, and Mingaho are somehow having a quieter conversation as they demolish a basket of bread between them. Seungkwan is still scolding Hansol and trying to fend off his freezing hands. 

The only one missing is—

“Jeonghan’s here,” Seungkwan says, staring over Seungcheol’s shoulder with dead eyes. Seungcheol turns in his seat and sees Jeonghan on the other side of the window. Realizing he has Seungcheol’s attention, he breathes on the window and creates a patch of fog which he then draws a heart in. 

Seungkwan makes a retching noise but Seungcheol ignores him, making a heart with his hands and watching the way Jeonghan’s face lights up. He disappears from the window to enter the restaurant and he’s heading for their table less than a minute later. He bypasses the only empty chair and seats himself on Seungcheol’s lap instead. His nose is red and there are snowflakes melting on his eyelashes. 

“Sorry I’m late,” he says.

“It’s okay,” Seungcheol says honestly. He’s just happy Jeonghan is here at all. He smooths his hands over Jeonghan’s back and pulls him down for a kiss. “Happy birthday.” 

“I love you,” Jeonghan pulls back to murmur. 

“I love you too,” Seungcheol replies, ignoring the catcalls from the rest of the table. He flips them off behind Jeonghan’s back, and goes back to kissing his husband.

*

“Hey.”

Seungcheol opens his eyes and looks over at Jeonghan. They’d finished their picnic lunch a little while ago and had wordlessly agreed to take an impromptu nap. Seungcheol was almost lulled to sleep by the warmth of Jeonghan’s palm in his and the sound of the river nearby. 

Jeonghan is looking back at him, turned on his side to see at Seungcheol better. 

“Hey,” Seungcheol replies. “Are you ready to go?”

“Not yet,” Jeonghan says. “I just wanted to tell you something.”

Seungcheol turns on his side to look at Jeonghan better. 

“I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while,” Jeonghan starts quietly. More quiet than Seungcheol’s ever heard him speak. “I—”

He breaks off, a sudden blush overtaking his face. Seungcheol watches this happen in shock, and a burst of nerves suddenly hits his stomach. He thinks he knows what Jeonghan’s about to say. 

“I’m listening,” Seungcheol says softly, squeezing Jeonghan’s hand. Jeonghan takes a deep breath, and then another, and meets Seungcheol’s gaze determinedly. 

“I love you,” Jeonghan says. Seungcheol’s ears start to ring, and his heart starts to beat in triple time. He somehow feels like he’s floating while also being tethered to the ground by Jeonghan’s hand in his. The world seems to shift, a little, and Seungcheol breathes in as he prepares to live in a world where he knows Jeonghan loves him, and he’s in love with Jeonghan too. He can’t wait. He breathes out.

“I love you, too,” Seungcheol replies. He’s not sure if Jeonghan’s eyes are shining from happiness or the sun reflecting in them, but it’s doesn’t matter, because Jeonghan is smiling and they’re in love and Seungcheol doesn’t know if he’s ever been this happy. He rolls over until he’s leaning over Jeonghan and presses him into the soft picnic blanket and kisses him. 

Jeonghan starts to laugh and Seungcheol has to break away to join in, pressing his laughter into Jeonghan’s shoulder. He rolls back to his side of the blanket, brings Jeonghan’s hand up to kiss his knuckles, and settles down for a nap under the summer sun with the love of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> [My twitter!](https://twitter.com/guccitaeg)


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